Automatic piece tallying machine



Oct. 18, 1960 J. A. TANGUAY 2,956,746

AUTOMATIC PIECE TALLYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 28, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 R AMA) 06b 1960 J. A. TANGUAY 2,956,746

AUTOMATIC PIECE TALLYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 28. 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 i2 WI T 131 E] 8 Joseph 4. m'i'lwiy Oct. 18, 1960 J A. TANGUAY 2,956,746

AUTOMATIC PIECE TALLYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 28, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VIN "R Joseph A. TAIVGIMY Oct- 18, 1960 J. A. TANGUAY 2,956,746

AUTOMATIC PIECE TALLYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 28, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVHV TOR Joseph A. TANGUA) Arm/un- O h 1960 J. A. TANGUAY 2,

AUTOMATIC PIECE TALLYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 28, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I Z// 7' n Zl 11 1 '3' I1 9 as 31 a7 36 s will), W 4, n

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Joseph A. 'msmr MAIN AUTOMATIC PIECE TALLYING MACHINE Joseph Apollinaire Tanguay, PD. 205, 'Amos, Abitibi, Quebec, Canada Filed Oct. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 692,615

7 Claims. (Cl. 235-98) The present invention relates to a counting and length computing machine and, more particularly, to a machine adapted to automatically register a tally or count of a plurality of elongated articles having different lengths and fed at random to the machine, said count giving a total of the number of articles of each length.

The machine, in accordance with the present invention, is more particularly adapted to be used in connection with such commodities as lumber, metal pipes, metal bars for masonry reinforcement, structural members and the like.

The general object of the present invention is the provision of a machine of the character described which will measure and count the pieces of different lengths in an automatic manenr, thereby completely eliminating the human error involved when such piece tallying op eration is carried out by manual labour.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provision of a machine of the character described which can be adjusted to measure and count elongated articles of different transverse dimensions.

The machine, in accordance with the present invention, eliminates the present practice of eyesight evaluation of the length of the ditferent pieces of lumber or the like with its attendant inaccuracy and which hitherto has had to be carried out by skilled labour. The machine, in accordance with the present invention, will only register the articles passing through the machine with unfailing accuracy thereby enabling the user of the machine to certify all the merchandise which was passed through the machine.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of means in a machine of the character described for applying an identification mark on all the articles passing through the machine.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings which illustrate an automatic piece tallying machine, in accordance with the present invention, more particularly adapted for counting and measuring lumber.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective View of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same;

Fig. 4 is an end View of the machine showing the panel mounting the counting devices;

Fig. 5 is a cut-away perspective view of the end of the machine where the counting mechanism is located;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view, partially in cross-section, of the same end of the machine;

Fig. 7 is a partial longitudinal plan section of the main beam of the machine;

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal vertical section of the main beam;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view looking at the back of one of the measuring members;

Fig. 10 is a front elevation, partially in longitudinal tates Patent 0 f 2,956,746 Patented Oct. 18, 1960 section, of an interlocking mechanism associated with each measuring member;

Figs. 11 and 12 are longitudinal sections showing the operation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 10;

Fig. 13 is a longitudinal partial section of the beam of the machine with two adjacent measuring members showing the operation thereof;

Fig. 14 is a cross-section of the beam of the machine with a measuring member in inactive lowered position; and

Fig. 15 is a similar cross-section showing the measuring member raised by a piece of lumber into an upper raised position.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like elements throughout, the machine, in accordance with the present invention, comprises an elongated base frame consisting of two spaced parallel beams 1 and 2 supporting transverse slideways 3. The pieces of lumber or the like to be measured and counted are moved in the direction of the arrow 4, indicated in Fig. 1 over the slideways 3 with the long axis of said pieces of lumber remaining substantially parallel to the long axis of the beams 1 and 2 and with one end of said pieces of lumber in sliding abutting contact with an end aligning beam 5 which is mounted at one end of the machine and which projects above the plane of the top faces of the slideways 3.

A hollow elongated main beam 6 is disposed above the slideways 3 in parallel relationship with the beams 1 and 2. The hollow beam 6 extends the whole length of the base frame and is supported at its two ends for vertical adjustable movement so as to space the hollow beam at an adjusted distance above the slideways 3.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 6, the end of the machine provided with the panel mounting the counting devices is provided with spaced parallel upright angle irons 7, rigidly secured to a horizontal angle iron 7'. The end of the beam 6 extends between the angle irons 7 and is provided with laterally extending rollers 3 engageable therewith to thereby guide the hollow beam 6 in its up and down movement. The box 9 mounted at the end of the hollow beam and projecting upwardly therefrom is also provided with rollers 10 engaging the angle irons 7. A rotatable screw 11, shown in Fig. 4, is journalled in the base 12 and is in threaded engagement with a nut (not shown) mounted fast with the end of the hollow beam 6.

A similar arrangement is provided at the other end of the hollow beam 6. As shown in Fig. 1, two upright spaced channel members 13 are mounted on a base 14 and the beam 6 is secured to a transverse member 15 provided with rollers engageable with the channels 13. A screw 11' (Fig. 3) is rotatably mounted in the base 14 and is engageable with a nut (not shown) fast with the end of the hollow beam 6. The screws 11 and 11' are rotated in unison by means of a crank wheel 16, sprocket chain 17, sprocket Wheel 18, and shaft 19 and suitable pinions (not shown). The shaft 19 is journalled in the base members 12 and 14 and in brackets 20 secured to the slideways 3. Rotation of the crank wheel 16 will raise or lower the beam 6 while maintaining the same in a horizontal position. The level of the beam is indicated by a pointer 21 secured to the end of the beam provided with the counting devices and disposed opposite a scale 22 marked on one of the angle irons 7.

A plurality of measuring members, generally indicated at 23 are pivotally mounted underneath the hollow beam 6 longitudinally of the same so as to extend side by side in closely adjacent relationship.

Each measuring member 23 consists of a plate 24 of rectangular shape which is hinged by means of hinges 25 to the front lower edge 26 of the hollow beam 6 (Figs. 9 and 14). A wheel 27 is mounted on a bracket 28 secured underneath the plate 24. The plate 24 is normally pivoted in a downwardly inclined position under the action of gravity and is retained in this position by an adjustable retaining rod 29 passing through a hole made in the bottom wall 39 of the hollow beam 6 and provided with an adjusting nut 31 adapted to contact a rubber washer 32. When a piece of lumber A, to be measured, is fed transversely of the slideways 3 and engages the wheel 27, the plate 24 is pivoted upwardly to contact the bottom wall 30 of beam 6, as shown in Fig. 15, the vertical position of the hollow beam 6 having been adjusted by means of the crank wheel 16 to such a level that in the upper position of the plate 24 the distance between the lower portion of the wheel 27 and the slideways 3 will correspond to the thickness of the lumber A.

The several wheels 27 of the plurality of measuring members 23 are disposed preferably at exactly one foot apart. Obviously, they may be disposed closer or farther apart depending on the fineness of length classification desired. The wheel 27 of the measuring member 23 nearest to the end aligning beam has its'transverse face closest and facing said beam 5 at an exact distance in feet, of for instance, 6 feet from the beam 5 such that the lumber fed to the machine will have to be at least slightly more than 6 feet long to engage the wheel 27 of the first measuring member 23 and raise the plate 24 of the latter for actuation of the counter associated therewith. Thus, lumber of between 6 and 7 feet long will actuate the first measuring member, while lumber between 7 and 8 feet long will actuate the two first measuring members, and so on. Each measuring member is associated with a counter 33 mounted on a counter panel '34 disposed in the box 9 at one end of the machine. The

means transmitting the motion of each measuring member 23 to its associated counter 33 must be such as to allow only the measuring member 23 measuring the greatest length for any given piece of lumber to be actuated and to render inoperative the remaining counters 33 of the actuated measuring members 23.

Referring to Figs. 9 and 13, the latter figure being a longitudinal section of the beam and of two adjacent measuring members looking from the back of the beam, it will be seen that each plate 24 is provided along the rear edge 35 thereof with an elongated box 36 housing a plunger 37 and a coil spring 37'. The outer end of the plunger 37 is provided with a ball 38 which is adapted to project through a restricted opening 39 made in the end wall 41) of the box 36, said end wall 40 being fiush with the side edge 41 of the plate 24. The other end of the plunger 37 extends through a bore made in the other end of the box 36 and is connected to a gate member 42 which slides underneath the plate 24 and has its outer end retained in contact with plate 24 by engaging through a slot of a hollow abutment member 43 the outer side face 44 of which is substantially flush with the opposite side face 45 of the plate 24.

In the released position of the plunger 37, as shown in Fig. 11, the hole 46 of the gate member 42 is out of register with aligned holes 47, 47 made in plate 24 and in the bottom wall 30 of the hollow beam 6. Thus raising of the measuring member 23 associated with the released plunger 37 will cause lifting of a finger 48, as shown in Figs. ll and 15. The finger 48 extends within the hollow beam 6 and is normally urged downwardly through holes 47, 47' under the action of a coil spring 49' as shown in Fig. 14. Upon raising of the finger 48, the counter 33 associated with said finger will be actuated one count through the following linkage: arm '50, pivotal rod 50', arm. Sit, motion transmitting rod 51, crank arm 52 (see Fig. 5), rod 53, and lever 54 which actuate the associated counter 33 mounted on the panel 34 shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 13, it will be seen that the measuring member 23 measuring the outer end of the lumber A and the wheel of which is actuated by said lumber A is the only one of the series of measuring members actuated by the lumber in which the plunger 37 is in released position. All the other measuring members actuated by the piece of lumber A are raised simultaneously with said end measuring member by means of laterally projecting lug 56 (see Fig. 9) and consequently the plungers 37 are kept in retracted position because each ball 38 is abutting against the abutment member 43 of the adjacent measuring member 23 as clearly shown at 55 in Fig. 13. Thus, all the measuring members with their plunger 37 in retracted position have their gate member 42 in a position in which the hole 46 is in register with the hole 47, 47' thereby enabling the finger 48 to project freely through said registering holes upon raising movement of the plate member 24.

Thus the fingers 48 of all the measuring members, except the end measuring member, remain inactive and do not actuate their associated counter 33.

Referring to Fig. 6, the measuring machine, in accordance with the present invention, is preferably provided with means for marking or identifying the pieces of lumber measured and counted by the machine. Said means may consist of a marking wheel 60 mounted on a bracket 61 underneath the hollow beam 6 adjacent the end aligning beam 5. The marking wheel 60 is in contact with an inking roller 62 of an ink box 63 also secured underneath the hollow beam 6. The wheel 60 is adapted to rotate over the board fed to the machine and may be provided with suitable identifying marks embossed at the periphery of said wheel; this wheel indicates that the lumber has been measured and if desired also identifies the lumber mill in which the machine is used.

In practice the machine, in accordance with the present invention, is used as follows:

The lumber is preliminarily classified as to grade, thickness and width. The lumber of a definite grade, thickness and width, is fed through the machine completely at random as regards length.

The level of the main beam 6 is first set in accordance with the thickness of the batch of lumber to be fed through the machine; each board is fed along the slideways 3 with one end abutting against the end aligning beam 5. Preferably, conveyor means are provided for automatically feeding the boards and maintaining the same parallel to each other and parallel to the hollow beam 6 while feeding the same at right angles to said hollow beam 6. Said conveyor means which are not shown because they have a conventional construction will have their active run at the level of the slideways 3 and will move parallel thereto.

Once the level of the hollow beam has been set, as indicated by the pointer 21 on the scale 22, the lumber A fed at random length actuate one or more of the measuring members 23. But only the end measuring member 23 actuates its associated counter 33 due to the interlocking means rendering inactive the counters associated with the actuated measuring members adapted to measure a smaller length. Thus, at the end of the measuring operation, the counters 33 will indicate how many boards of each length passed through the machine. From this information, the following may be easily derived: The total length in linear feet of the batch of lumber passed through the machine and the total board feet of the entire batch and of each given length; this can be easily calculated from the thickness of the board, as indicated by the arrow or pointer 2-1, and the width of said boards provided said boards were first classified as to width.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the machine is automatic and foolproof in its operation and may be operated by unskilled labour.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention has been illustrated and described it is understood that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a counting machine for separately counting elongated articles of difierent lengths, in combination, a plurality of counting devices each of said counting devices serving to register the number of pieces of a definite length, guiding means for aligning one end of said elongated articles, measuring members disposed at successively increasing distances from said end aligning means and consisting of plate members hinged on a common beam support and disposed side by side, said plate members adapted to be pivoted upon engagement with an elongated article to be measured, means for transmitting the movement of each of said plate members to one of said counting devices, comprising a finger associated with each measuring member and adapted to extend in the path of the pivotal movement of said plate member, and interlocking means comprising a plunger associated with each plate member, a gate member connected to said plunger, said plunger having one end projecting from one of its associated plate members and spring urged to take a released position, said gate member, in said released position of said plunger, engageable with said finger upon pivotal movement of said plate member, to actuate said finger, said plunger adapted to be actuated by an adjacent plate member simultaneously actuated with the plate member with which said plunger is associated to take a retracted position with said gate member clearing the projecting end of said finger to thereby leave said finger stationary despite pivotal movement of the associated plate member.

2. In a machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said beam on which said measuring members are mounted is arranged for vertical adjustment.

3. A device for separately counting the number of elongated pieces of different lengths comprising an elongated slideway, a beam longitudinally disposed over said slideway, a member for aligning adjacent ends of said elongated pieces moving transversely of said slideway and parallel to each other underneath said beam, a plurality of longitudinally disposed and equally spaced measuring members mounted underneath said beam and engageable with said elongated pieces to cause raising movement of those of said measuring members engaged by said elongated pieces, a counting device associated with each measuring member, individual and independent motion transmitting means disposed between each measuring member and its associated counting device for transmitting the motion of a measuring member actuated by engagement with said elongated pieces to the associated counting device, and interlocking means to render inactive those of said motion transmitting means associated with the measuring members which are disposed nearer said end aligning member so as to render active only the motion transmitting means associated with the measuring member actuated by an elongated piece which is farthest from said end aligning member, wherein said measuring members consist of plates pivotally mounted underneath said beam and each having a wheel engageable by said elongated pieces for upwardly pivoting said measuring members engaged by an elongated article, said motion transmitting means including fingers projecting downwardly from said beam and engageable by said plate members upon upward pivotal movement of the latter, said interlocking means comprising a plunger associated with each plate member and projecting from one side thereof to be engaged by an abutment member on a measuring member farther from said end aligning member, said plunger in the released position thereof causing a gate member to be in the path of said finger upon actuation of said plate member to cause actuation of said finger and recording of said counting device, said plunger in the retracted position thereof when in abutment with the abutment member of an adjacent plate member simultneously actuated by said elongated piece causing said gate member to clear said finger to leave the same inactive despite upward raising movement of said plate member.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said beam is mounted for vertical adjustment to adjust the level of the wheels of the several measuring members above said slideway.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4, further including means for identifying the elongated pieces fed through said device.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said identifying means comprise a wheel mounted adjacent the end aligning member.

7. In a machine for counting by length elongated articles of diiferent lengths fed to the machine aligned at one end, a number of counting devices, an equal number of measuring members disposed at stepped intervals from said one end, and in the path of said elongated articles so as to be displaced thereby, motion transmitting means associated with each measuring member and operable, in a predetermined position, to actuate a counting device associated with said measuring member and means on each measuring member to displace said motion transmitting means of the adjacent measuring member closer to said one end from said predetermined position only when the first named measuring member is also displaced by an elongated article.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,691,486 Work Oct. 12, 1954 2,828,917 Wheeler et al. Apr. 1, 1958 2,843,321 Sloan July 15, 1958 

